1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a device, comprising a handle, a brush, and a scraper, designed to quickly and efficiently clean the tongue, while not eliciting the gag reflex.
2. Description of Prior Art
Heretofore, tongue cleaners consisted of conventional toothbrushes, a variety of tongue scrapers, tongue brushes with different fibrous cleaning members, and even the inverted bowl of a spoon. (Ralph, Aust. Dent. J., 1988; 33(3):224) None of these previous devices, except conventional toothbrushes and spoons, are available at this time, for purchase, by the general public. As an active dentist in a large group private practice, I can attest, first-hand, to the need for a tongue cleaner as a part of one's general oral hygiene regimen. We believe our tongue cleaning invention is the answer to this sorely lacking necessity.
The tongue is an extremely mobile mass of striated muscle covered by mucous membrane. The tongue can change it's shape rapidly and extensively in performing it's functions due to this striated muscle.
The mucous membrane covering the anterior 2/3's (body) and apex (tip) of the tongue is rough, because it is thickly covered with papillae. The posterior 1/3 (pharyngeal) has an uneven or nodular surface due to a number of rounded elevations or nodules. On both sides or margins are a number of vertical folds, but few, if any papillae. Taste buds are found mostly on the tongue, and to a lesser extent, on the soft palate, pharynx, and epiglottis. At the posterior aspect of the body of the tongue are from 8 to 12 circumvallate papillae arranged in a V-shaped row. The greatest number of taste buds are located in the furrows or grooves which surround these papillae. A few taste buds can also be found on the fungiform and foliate papillae, located anteriorly to the circumvallate papillae. The majority of papillae on the body of the tongue are the filiform papillae, which provide friction for the handling of food. The presence of papillae, folds, and grooves on the dorsal surface of the tongue make it a prime location for the retention of debris.
To properly clean the irregular surface of the tongue, a brush is needed to adequately reach the bottom of all the folds, grooves, etc. and loosen this debris. In addition, the tongue is a site for the accumulation of material from sinus drainage (Hugh Bateman, PHD, A Clinical Approach to Speech Anatomy and Physiology, p 64) and can acquire a viscous coating. (Ralph, Aust. Dent. J., 1988; 33(3); 224) A semi-rigid scraper is the ideal tool for removing this type of debris and also to scrape away the material that the brush dislodges.
To complicate matters, a tongue cleaning device, to do it's job properly, must not elicit the "gag reflex". This reflex will preclude individuals from cleaning the tongue as far posteriorly as possible. The pharynx, soft palate, or posterior portion of the tongue can elicit gagging. The importance of this is that any tongue cleaning device must be thin enough so as not to trigger gagging by touching the pharynx or soft palate. Consequently, the area of the tongue we are most concerned with, the anterior 2/3's, can be properly cleaned only by a device which comprises a brush, scraper, and is thin in design.
As recently as 1986, the Journal of the American Dental Association, in an article on oral hygiene, recommended clean the tongue with a normal toothbrush. (J.A.D.A.; 1986, Special Issue; Guide to Dental Health 6-7)
U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,478 discloses a tongue brush with a fibrous cleaning member which slides along a support frame. It appears to be too complicated and expensive to mass produce. In addition, it has no scraper and because of it's design, which encompasses a sliding, disposable, removeable, fibrous cleaning element, a scraper cannot be incorporated into the device properly. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,061,272, 4,488,327, 2,405,029, 5,005,246, 4,455,704, 2,651,068, 2,049,956, 2,574,654, 3,254,356, and 1,728,956 all disclose a tongue scraper of some type and design, but no specific thin brush to gain access to and clean the folds, grooves, etc., of the tongue. Some have embodied a conventional toothbrush (e.g. longer bristles) into the device as a combination toothbrush/tongue scraper. Others just have a tongue scraper.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,891,864 discloses a combination tongue brush and scraper, but it's inventor, Cornelius P. Barrett, specifies that the "brushes are concaved which materially facilitates the tongue cleaning operation". It's important to note again that the tongue is an extremely mobile mass of striated muscle, which can change it's shape rapidly and extensively. We feel that approximately even length bristles will much more efficiently and easily clean the tongue with a motion analagous to brushing teeth rather than an arcing motion, superiorly-inferiorly, necessitated by Mr. Barrett's device. Also, the 90 degree edges of both the brush head and scraper, could possibly damage or injure the tissues of the oral cavity when used. In addition, no mention of thinness in design to negate the gag reflex is made. Finally, it's doubtful that the plethora of pins and bolts necessary in the manufacturing of this device, would make it feasible to produce and become available to the general public.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,592 embodies a tongue depressor with a Velcro tape attached to one end with a "vertical profile not exceeding 3 millimeters". However, there in no tongue scraper present, we question how well the "over 400 hooks per square inch" will clean around the papillae and in the grooves of the tongue compared to bristles, and we're concerned that the "base fabric" of the Velcro tape would be a medium conducive to the growth of various microorganisms because the fabric would be difficult to clean and dry.